


Pledge To You

by Momo333



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Druids, F/M, I try to keep it close to their actual characater, Levi-centric (Shingeki no Kyojin), Mikasa Ackerman-centric, Out of Character, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, but well, druid Levi, loosely based on the show Britannia, probably, this is an au for a reason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29700648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Momo333/pseuds/Momo333
Summary: The cursed lands of Paradis Island is something, that the outside world dreaded ever since they were able to fight back the first Marleyan invasion. Now, hundreds of years later the happenings of the old times are nothing more than legends, that mothers tell their children. So when one day, Levi gets a vision promising the end of the world he knew he must do something about it, fight, to save the only home the Eldians ever knew. Mikasa wasn't supposed to be caught up in it, but sometimes even Levi can be wrong.or a Britannia inspire fanfiction, where Mikasa must learn everything the druids know and more, to save the people who are dear to her, and Levi is there helping her on the path.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Mikasa Ackerman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Pledge To You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! While this is not the first fic I wrote, this is my very first in the AoT and Rivamika fandom! I am pretty excited to share it with you all, and I hope you will enjoy reading.  
> It is not beta-read, so every mistake made is my own since my first language is not English, so excuse me for those.  
> (I messed around with the ages, so Mikasa is 17 in the beginning of the fic while Levi is 24)  
> Without adding anything else, please enjoy the fic!

Voices. All around him, whispering but Levi could not make out what they were saying. He hurried through the forest to get there before it was too late, because there was no time, no time to waste as the last rays of the sun disappeared bringing darkness that swallowed their world. He fell on his knees, bones and stones rattling in his hands as he held them together whispering in a dead language what no one spoke anymore, asking the gods for an answer, to tell him what to do.

Letting them fall on the ground, Levi read the signs as clear as his own thoughts, dread filling the man at the things they told him. 

“Fuck.” He cursed silently scooping the rocks and bones back into his hands and putting them in his satchel, and then he was on his legs once more, running through the quiet forest as his gods laughed at him, their voices haunting every step he took.

Squatting down at the heart of a tree, Levi tore up plant roots and rubbed them over his teeth and gums before standing up again and he took off.

He could smell it, the scent of the salty water and when he reached the end of the cliff, with no hesitation Levi jumped, angry waves swallowing his body and his consciousness left him behind, sinking deeper and deeper down into the underworld looking for answers.

* * *

“Mikasa! Come back!” a voice called out after her as she ran laughing, the cold water splashing against her ankles, the salt in the air burning her lungs just the way she liked it. 

“You can’t catch me Eren!” she shouted back, holding her dress in her hands so it wouldn’t get wet as her brother and their friend chased after her. 

“Mikasa, mom will be angry!” he called again and she sighed, stomping deeper into the water, stopping only when it reached her knees and waited for her friends to catch up to her. 

“One day.” Armin said, out of breath as he stopped by her, and Mikasa glanced at him. He looked so young, blonde hair and shining blue eyes, almost as blue as the sky before them, holding himself up by leaning onto his knees.

“One day what, Armin?” Mikasa asked back, her eyes following where he was looking into the nothingness of the horizon.

“One day we will cross the great see and see the world! The endless sand deserts, the frozen lands, and the lush forests!” the enthusiasm in his voice warmed Mikasa’s heart. Yeah, she would like that. Eren, Armin and herself travelling the word. But something else, she could see the two of them going alone and coming back home to her. She would always be there to welcome them home.

“But Armin. You will freeze there.” She laughed just at the image of her short friend in a place like that when the winters on Paradis left him sick more often than not, leaving Eren and her to worry as they sat beside him in their house when Carla let them go over, and told him about their day. 

“That’s not nice of you to say, Mikasa! You will see! I will travel the world!” he didn’t lose any enthusiasm from his voice, and her laugh died, turning into a soft smile as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Right, Eren?”

Mikasa turned her body to look at her brother, who was standing a few steps behind them looking at the two of them with a weird expression. “Yeah. And we will be right by your side!” He raised his voice with a grin and started to run, catching the two of them, throwing a hand around both Armin and Mikasa’s neck.

“Do you promise?” Mikasa asked, tilting her head a bit so she could look at both boys.

“Huh?”

“That we will be by each other’s side. Forever.” She said and watched as the grin on Eren’s face turned into something more soft, more seren.

“Yeah. The three of us. Always.”

Mikasa followed the two boys back to their village, passing by houses where everyone was getting ready for the Lughnasadh ceremony. Little kids running around and playing in the grass while their parents did their daily work. Back at their home, Carla was waiting for the three children already with her hands on her hips. They took the scolding with a smile on their face and Armin hugged both of them before going back to his own home.

“Hey, Mikasa.” Eren called out once they settled down in front of their house, and she looked up at her brother from where she was sitting on the ground, waiting patiently for their mother to braid her hair, and pin it up, helping her get ready.

“Hm?”

“What name will you choose?” He asked curiously, watching as the girl he once long ago saved, turned into a woman in front of his very own eyes. 

“Eren, that is something that Mikasa can’t tell you, you know that.” His mother chimed in, pinning one braid in place before turning her attention to the rest of Mikasa’s hair, separating it in three locks, and started braiding it. “It’s between her and the gods to know it.”

“But how will they know?” He asked again, throwing a cranberry in Mikasa’s open mouth, and in his own afterwards with a grin.

“They just will. You do not question the gods.”

“...Do I have to? Choose a new name.” Mikasa asked quietly, shifting her eyes from Eren to the sky above them. It was clear still, but she could feel the wind picking up, bringing a storm. A distant memory came into the front of her mind, of a dark haired woman and a blonde haired man calling her name with so much love, as they were torn away from her in a matter of minutes with her yet to be born, brother. The only thing she had left from them, was her name.

She felt a squeeze on her shoulder, and the memory was gone, Eren’s concerned eyes staring back into her own as another hand caressed her cheek.

“It is your own free will to choose the name, Mikasa. Whatever you choose, the gods will know it.” Carla said, leaving a kiss on the top of Mikasa’s head.

“Thank you.” Mikasa whispered and smiled at Eren, who nodded his head, his worries easing after seeing Mikasa focused in the present moment.

“Now, out you go young man, help your father! I need to speak with Mikasa and help with her dress.” His mother said standing up, urging him to go and with a groan Eren nodded, walking away from their hut, but not before stealing a handful of berries from the table with a grin, and finger held in front of his lips as he winked at Mikasa, head turned away already when she shook her head with a smile.

“That boy is going to be the death of me.” Carla sighed and pulled Mikasa up with herself, pulling the young woman inside their home, the thumbing of Eren’s steps growing quieter the further away he got. 

“Don’t say that, mom.” Mikasa smiled and watched as the older woman walked to the wall, taking out something from the hutch they used for storing their prized items, and she walked back holding it close to her chest, taking a seat across from Mikasa.

“Tonight” She started, and reached out taking one of Mikasa’s hands in her own, thumb caressing the soft skin of her palm “you will choose a name, only you and the gods will know, and it will shape your destiny.” tears gathered in the corner of her eyes and Mikasa reached out her other hand in a worry, touching her mother’s cheek.

“Mom?”

“None of that now. But no matter what name you choose, what path the gods will bring you upon, know that you will always be a part of our family. You will always be our daughter, you will always be Eren and Armin’s friend, but most importantly. You will always be Mikasa.” she smiled and squeezed Mikasa’s hand. “Even the gods can’t change that.”

“Gods, you grow up so fast. You are already a woman and Eren, he is still so careless compared to you.” she laughed and Mikasa smiled at that. It’s true.. but she doesn’t know what would have been done to her, if not for Eren back then. 

“Can I ask you something selfish, Mikasa? As one woman to another.” Carla’s voice was serious, and Mikasa nodded.

“Please… take care of Eren, even after we are gone.”

“Of course.” Mikasa rushed with the answer, nodding. It wasn’t even a question. Eren saved her when she lost her family and people were to use her, to repay that and the kindness he and Armin showed her since she came to his home, Mikasa would give up her own life without a question, if it meant to protect Eren. 

“Thank you.” Carla smiled and raised their hand. “Now for tonight… I was thinking of giving you my dagger, but then I remembered something, what Grisha brought away from your house. I hope I am not overstepping anything, by giving it to you, but Mikasa, I think your mother would have wanted it this way.”

Mikasa’s eyes dilated as Carla revealed what she was holding onto till this moment, the dagger feeling weightless yet it was weighted by the cost of lives in her hands. She looked at it with tears in her eyes, the memory of Eren kneeling over a man and stabbing him rushed into her mind, then another one trying to kill him, just after he saved Mikasa. The same knife that gave the path of her life to her mother, took the life of those men, who took her away from Mikasa.

“Thank...you.” She whispered tears rolling down her cheeks as she held it close to her chest. The same knife her mother used to give her the mark on her wrist, the one she wore before Mikasa, and the one that saved Mikasa’s life.

“Don’t cry.” Carla said softly wiping away the tears from Mikasa’s eyes, but her own were watery with unshed tears. “Come on, the sun is setting slowly. Let’s get you ready.”

And so, Mikasa let herself be pulled up by her hand, taking off her clothes and putting on the white dress what Carla made for her, a simple garment with a cut in the middle of her abdomen, so the knife can slice her skin without tearing the fabric apart. 

“...”

“Yes, Mikasa?” Carla asked with a knowing smile as she helped her put on the dress. Soft fabric - one that she knew their family usually wouldn’t be able to afford- brushed her skin, setting against her curves and making her look like a real woman.

“Will it hurt?” Mikasa asked, looking at the knife in her hand, and then down at the exposed skin on her stomach.

“It won’t. You will have the soul of the gods inside you, so you won’t feel a thing.” she smiled and Mikasa nodded,running her eyes over her dress one more time, dusting off the skirt.

“You are beautiful.” Carla said proudly once she was ready, standing in the middle of their small house. “Oh, dear.” she pulled Mikasa in a tight hug, the girl reciprocating it, as she took comfort in the only mother figure she had left.

* * *

The road to the druids was a long one for someone like him, but Levi did not stop. He had a mission and nobody could stop him.

He could hear them, the gods laughing and mocking him with every step he got closer to the place he once called home but was forced to leave.

“Fucking dammit!” He cursed silently remembering his vision. 

The sun will not rise. They were coming for all of them, and it was his job to stop it, to stop Him. He was the only one who could, the only one who saw what would happen. The only one who was strong enough to bear this burden. What is one more life, taken with his hands if it is the devil’s himself? Sometimes he could still feel it, blood dripping down his hands after he killed. Not because he wanted to, but because they told him to kill. But he only wanted to survive, why was it a sin to want to live when the whole world seemed to be against him?

The whispers were a clear message: the chosen one. The hope for their people. And a price that the chosen one had to pay.

But he will be damned if he won’t try to ask for help against the army from hell.

The air was getting thicker as he climbed the cliffs, the always present fog giving the air of mystery to the place, and of course a good hiding place for the people who lived there.

“Erwin!” he shouted, leaning against a rock and looked up at the dangling bones in disgust. Some things never change, some places never change. Some people never change. 

“Erwin, I have to tell you something!” He tried again, pulling the layer of extra fabric around his shoulders to give more warmth in the humid weather. He could smell them, the people he once belonged to, the smell of burning herbals never leaving this place.

“Erwi-!”

“You shouldn’t be here.” He halted in his step, yanking his head to the side with enough force to make the bones in his neck crack. 

“Hange. Thank the gods, I have to speak with-”

“Levi. I said you shouldn’t be here.” They looked down at him with a frown, and jumped from the rock they were standing on, landing just before him, straightening their spine they were taller than Levi.

“Believe me, I know. But it really is important, you dimwit.” He tried to reason with them, and then sighed, leaning closer. “Hange, the gods are speaking to me again.”

Their eyes seemed to dilate, as they laughed loudly, more druids coming to the cliffs, looking down at the two of them.

“And what are the gods saying to you, Levi? Tell me. If Erwin gets to know so do I! Aren’t we old friends?” They threw a hand around Levi’s shoulder and looked down at him. 

“They are telling me that he is coming, Hange. The sun will set, and not rise tomorrow, the lands will swim in blood, and our children will be massacred.” He bites back an insult at the look on their face, a wrong word and they might attack him and Levi did not want to kill his own kin. “Hange. I am telling the truth.”

“You should go Levi, before something bad happens to you.” They say in an emotionless voice. “You know why you are still alive so don’t risk it any more than this.” they let out a sigh and leaned closer to Levi. “You are my friend, and I care about you. So please don’t make me do anything.” They murmured so only Levi could hear them, before taking a step back and turned to walk back.

“Wait, Hange! Just… fucking bring me to Erwin.” He ran a hand through his hair in annoyance and took a step forward to follow them. 

“What are the gods telling you, Levi. What are the gods telling an outcast what they don’t share with Erwin?” Hange smiled, cocking their head to the side with a glint in their eyes. “Levi, I love you but you betrayed him. If the gods want to speak, they will speak to him.”

With that, Levi watched as Hange walked away with clenched fists. This was bad. He didn’t come here to argue with Erwin or Hange, or any of the other fucking druids. With closed eyes, Levi turned around, deaf to the insults that were thrown in his way as he walked back down on the road he came, on the road that he despised so much because it caused him shame to walk on.

An outcast by the fucking druids. What kind of cruel joke were the gods playing on him? 

But alright. If they will not help, then Levi will do it himself.

* * *

The sun was setting and this was the last day. Levi was lying in the tall grass, hiding behind bushes as the hope for a new day disappeared with every second moving forward time. Red as blood was the sky and the sea, the coming ships only a small dot yet on the horizon but still there, bringing damnation and doom. 

“There you are.” Levi whispered into the nothingness of nature. The silence was abnormal and eary, no animal making a sound. 

He waited there till the island was engulfed by darkness and watched as the Marleyan army stepped on their sacred land. He could see it right there, as he crept closer, the blood in the mark of their boots, the screams of thousands of men and women alike. He saw the tears of mothers for their children in the water that washed against their ankles. The burning villages in the flame of their torches.

The devil's finally arrived, trying to take Paradis. And Levi will stop them.

* * *

Mikasa smiled nervously as both Carla and Grisha hugged her tightly, Eren and Armin standing not so far away both looking at her with eyes she could not understand. She stepped towards them, wrapping an arm around each of their neck and relaxed a bit when she felt their hands around her waist pulling her closer.

“Don’t choose a stupid name.” Eren mumbled in her hair “or I will know, you hear me, Mikasa?” he huffed and she giggled with a nod. 

“Eren!” Armin hissed kicking him in the shin and the taller boy winced.

“What?”

“Don’t say that to her! The name she decides to choose is only for her and the gods to know and deal with!” He said with a head shake and Mikasa smiled at him thankfully, a knot in her stomach both from the nerves and the happiness.

“Don’t mind Eren, Mikasa. I’m sure your name will be beautiful and suit you.” Armin smiled at her and took a step back, pulling their friend with him. 

With a thankful smile and nod, Mikasa turned around and started walking to the gathering, where she could already see her friend waving at her to hurry up. Glancing back one more time at her family, to the people who were so good to her all her life and took her in she was only more sure of her choice.

“I thought you’re gonna be late.” Sasha teased her once she stopped by her side, clinging onto Mikasa’s arm.

“I’m not you.” Mikasa said simply, keeping a stoic face and neutral tone, but smiling inside. They were going to become a woman together. It was so strange to think about it, little Sasha who taught her how to hunt, now standing by her side, her hair in knots and braids, a two piece white garment adorning her figure leaving her stomach bare just like Mikasa’s own dress. 

“Whaaat? Mikasa! Why are you being mean to me today out of all the days?” She whined, pulling on Mikasa’s arm and swinging it between them, hand in hand.

“I am not mean.” Mikasa answered, following the other girls from their village as they walked deeper into the forest, the sound of drums becoming louder, the earth pulsing under their feet as the people in the sacred woods danced. 

They stopped in the middle of the ceremony place, the seer of their village ushering the girls to stand in a circle around her, a smoking bowl in her hands.

“Today, you will be girls no more.” She said, walking around in the circle, waving the smoke towards all of the girls that gathered from the neighbouring villages. “You will choose a new name, and serve the path the gods choose for you and no matter what, you will walk that path.” she whispered, blowing the smoke in each girl’s mouth, her apprentices running a wet cloth over the girls’ neck as they kneeled one by one.

On their knees, they turned around, facing outside of the circle, and in that moment Mikasa saw her family standing by with a proud look on their face.

“May the gods lead and protect you on your path, child.” The seers eyes were dark as the night as she inhaled the smoke and leaned closer, taking Mikasa’s chin in her bony hands. She opened her mouth, and let her eyes drop closed as the woman exhaled the smoke in her mouth inches away from her face, the touch of her thumb tracing patterns with ointment on her face relaxing her.

It burnt her throat, but she swallowed it, swaying at the rhythm of the drums and the next time she opened her eyes, it was Eren’s smiling face greeting her as him and Grisha took one of her hands, helping her to stand up.

Eyes kept on Carla, Mikasa handed over the dagger she was holding all this time and her mother nodded. Mikasa squeezed Eren and their father’s hand waiting for the stinging to come as the blade cut through her skin but it never did.

She watched in fascination as Carla carved the mark in her skin with a gentleness of a mother. It all felt so surreal, her body light as a feather, the blood rushing through her veins, the movements of the earth under them, and for a moment she could feel everything. She could feel the love from her family and friends, she could feel the water from that morning rushing against her ankles, the wind as it picked through her hair while collecting wood with Eren, the gentle touch of the grass and flowers when the four of them, Sasha, Armin, Eren and Mikasa played outside their home. 

She saw….

“Mikasa, what name did you choose?”

_“Wherever you go, I will protect you.”_

She saw…

“Mikasa?”

_“Whatever path you choose, I will follow you.”_

She saw…

“Are you alright, Mikasa?”

_“Tell me, child. What is it that you seek, but can not find?”_

_“When the gods have abandoned us, who will we turn to? Who will we follow?”_

_“I asked myself many times, who do I serve. If I have a choice, it will be you. Now and forever.”_

  
  


She saw the glint of the fire on a blade, as it cut open the throat of a man she knew.

Cries. Shouting. The smell of iron, burning wood and flesh. Mikasa ran for her life, holding onto Eren’s hand as Grisha and Carla ushered them. She could see Sasha kneeling over the body of her father with tears streaming down her face, but when she called out her name, the girl didn’t listen. 

“We have to save Sasha!” She gasped out pulling Eren in her direction, yanking her friend up just in time as a blade slashed through thin air with Mikasa holding Sasha’s head close to her chest and looked at the soldier in terror.

“Run!” Eren shouted at her, and with an iron grip on the other’s arm Mikasa ran for her life.

“Eren, where is mom and dad?” Mikasa gasped out when she finally reached her brother and they took towards the dark forest, the bloodshed behind them leaving a mark on the earth forever. She could feel it’s pain as the sacred place was violated with bloodshed, and she could feel it’s anger towards everyone.

“I didn’t see them…” Eren’s voice died at the end of his sentence and Mikasa turned around to see why, but was greeted with the image of her adoptive family dead. She could feel it on her own skin, as the blade cut through Carla’s throat, the hot red blood gushing out and another blade piercing through Grisha’s chest, the red liquid soaking through their clothes.

“Eren!” She cried out after her brother as he let go of her hand, and rushed back screaming, attacking the soldier with nothing but his bare hands. She wanted to run after him, the happenings of the past clouding her mind seeing her father and mother murdered in the face of Grisha and Carla. She didn’t want to lose anyone else anymore.

“Mikasa, stop!” The force that Sasha used to pull her forward was something she never saw from the girl before. She took a hold on Mikasa’s face, gripping on her cheeks and for the first time after the ceremony started that night, Mikasa looked into her eyes.

Eyes so deep with sorrow and pain, just losing the only family she ever knew, wound still fresh on both of their hearts. 

“Listen to me.” She whispered yet her voice cut through the screams of the dying people around them. “Eren is a good fighter, and the others are there too. They will survive! But if we go back there, if you go back there, gods know what they will do to us!” Her voice was trembling, whether from terror or sorrow Mikasa wasn’t sure. “We have to run, Mikasa.”

And with that, not leaving room for argument, her friend started running again, hand gripping Mikasa’s wrist as she pulled her along. The voices became quieter the further they got into the forest, stumbling over roots and sticks.

It felt like they were running for hours, but it could only be a couple of minutes, when they heard voices from all around them, dread dripping down on Mikasa at the thought of being captured. 

She was clutching the blade in her hands, still wet with her own blood when the grip from her wrist was gone, and she was falling, rolling down on the side of the hump they were standing before,now alone.

“Sasha!” she screamed, crawling on her hands and knees, looking around frantically. There was no one beside her, but the voices only grew louder, and when she finally noticed the figure standing across from where she was it was too late.

She wanted to cry out, scream for Sasha to look out as she stabbed one soldier, but there were more, and she was alone. She opened her mouth to call out, wanting to bring attention to herself in hopes to save her friend, but a hand clasped down on her mouth, muffling her shout and she felt someone pulling her down, holding down her hands.

“Shut up you idiot, or they will kill us.” The voice was familiar, and when she turned her head to look at her captor she found herself looking into the darkest of eyes she ever saw, a man with short hair and undercut, strong jawline. But he was not from her village, nor was a participant in the ceremony. His clothes told as much.

Mikasa tried to wriggle out from his hold, but it only became tighter, the man turning them around so he was pushing her down into the ground.

“If you cry out and bring attention to us, your friend’s attempt to save you will be for nothing. Do you want her death to be pointless?” The question was void of any emotion and when she stopped struggling against the hold, he let go of her mouth.

“What are you saying?” Mikasa asked, her eyes fixed on Sasha fighting with all her might, and she was doing good, she always was a fighter but the soldiers were just coming and coming.

“I am saying, you absolute moron” the man hissed following her gaze “that she showed you off into this ditch. She tried to save you.”

Mikasa stayed speechless, looking up at Sasha, her dagger switched to a sword in her hand that she took from one of the soldiers after elbowing him in the stomach. She watched, as her friend turned her head to look for her, to see if Mikasa was alright, when a sword pierced through her stomach.

The man was faster than Mikasa, pressing his palm over her lips before she could cry out as the blade was pulled out and heard the sickening wet sound as her friend started to fall, but her head was turned away faster than the body could hit the ground.

Tears streaming down her face, she lay motionless in the arms of someone she didn’t know, the cries of her village haunting her mind and the ground under their body shaking with the trampling of the enemy. What was the point of her living, if everyone she cared for died either way?

It felt like hours till the forest became quiet again, all too quiet, no animals moving around them, and there was no wind to blow through thick layers of leaves. 

“Come on, brat. Let’s get away from here.” the man said to her and Mikasa lifted her head looking at him, his face blurry from the tears still in her eyes. She didn’t want to move. What was the point of it anyway? “Oi. Are you deaf? I said move.”

“Why?” Her voice was hoarse, not what she was used to, or not what she sounded like at all. Lifting a hand, she wiped her tears away, smearing dirt on her face and messing up the mark the old seer left on her forehead, but not caring. 

The man only lifted an eyebrow at her.

“Why?” She repeated, kneeling up with her hands gripping the fabric of her dress. “Everyone I knew must be dead… why? Why did they have to die? What did they do, to anger the gods and have a fate like this?” her voice rose with every word she spoke. “Why did she have to save me? Why is it always me...who has to survive?” her voice died off looking at the person before her, waiting for answers, waiting for anything.

“It’s not about them.” He said. There was no pity in his eyes or voice, the moon’s silver light illuminating his face, casting a shadow. “But if you won’t fight, their sacrifices will be for nothing.” the words hurt, they felt like a thousand knives stabbing at her bleeding heart at the same time. “And you probably won’t survive.” The man added, the sentence making her clench her fists harder, the fabric tearing under her fingers. “But if you won’t even try, will you be able to look into their eyes when you meet again?”

“Who are you?” Mikasa asked, her voice full with unasked questions, what was left unsaid. 

“Levi. Probably this shitty island’s last hope, because I am the only one who knows what happens next.”


End file.
